Rail supporting and retaining means



RAIL SUPPORTING BETA IIIIIIIII NS Patented Sept. 13, 1938 UNITED STATES RAIL SUPPORTING AND RETAINING'MEANS James G. Delfox, Flushing, N. Y., assignor to Poor & Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 4, 1937, Serial No.14e,476

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in supporting and retaining means for railway rails, and has particular reference to an improved tie plate and rail retaining clip combination of the gen- 5 eral character disclosed in prior Hill and Armstrong Patents Nos. 2,042,464 and 1,839,725, respectively.

Generally speaking, the object of the invention is to provide a tie plate and rail retaining clip in combination of the type disclosed by the Hill and Armstrong patents, and which posssesses all of the principal advantages of said prior combinations, and which, additionally possesses the advantage that the holding and locking members comprising the clip may be more economically produced from flat stock by simple bending operations than the essentially forged or equivalently produced holding and locking members of the said prior combinations.

(. With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will become more fully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and defined in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding 30 parts in the different views:

Figure 1 is a transverse section through a tie plate and rail illustratingthe fastening and holding members comprising the present improved clip; and

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the combination of elements shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a detailed view of a modification of the invention.

Referring to the drawing in detail, A designates, generally, the tie plate of the present rail supporting and retaining combination and B designates, generally, a rail seated on said tie plate.

The tie plate A is designed to rest upon and 45 to be secured in any suitable manner to a cross tie and is of a known type comprising a base I0 having rising therefrom a pair of spaced, parallel ribs II, II defining therebetween a rail seat and providing abutments for cooperation with the edges of the base flanges I2 of the rail B to hold the latter against lateral movement.

Outwardly of each rib II the base III has formed therethrough an opening I3 the outer defining wall of which preferably is straight and disposed vertically and the inner defining wall of which preferably has its upper portion straight and disposed vertically and its lower portion inclined downwardly and inwardly, as indicated at I4.

Provided for use in each of the openings I3, for '5 detachable interlocking engagement with the base plate A and with each other, is a rail holding member designated as I5 and a locking member therefor designated as I6.

The members I5 are formed from fiat stock of 10. suitable thickness and width and are so shaped that they may be very economically produced by simple bending operations.

In forming the rail holding member I5 the stock comprising the same is bent downwardly 15.:

upon itself to provide inner and outer arms II and I8, respectively, connected together at the top of the member by a resilient loop or eye l9; the lower or free end portion of the inner arm I1 is bent to extend inwardly and at a slight upward inclination, as indicated at 20; the upper portion of the outer arm I8 is bent outwardly from the lower portion of the eye I9 to provide an outwardly facing arcuate depression'ZI directly below said eye; the lower portion of said outer arm I8, which portion is straight, is bent relative to the upper portion of said arm to extend vertically downward therefrom, and at its lower end the said lower portion of said outer arm is bent inwardly to provide at the inner side thereof a downwardly and inwardly inclined face 22.

In forming the locking member I6 a straight piece of stock of the same dimensions as the stock comprising the member I5, simply is bent to provide at its upper end an eye or loop 23 from which the straight shank 24 of the member extends downwardly. In this connection it will be observed that the shank 24 is disposed in the medial plane of the eye or loop 23 and that the outer faces of the latter are disposed outwardly of the planes of the outer faces of the shank. It will also be observed that the eye 23 is of a diameter such that its outer face conforms in curvature to the arcuately curved depression 2| of the upper portion of the arm I8 of the member I5 so that when the shank 24 of the member IB is disposed against the straight lower portion of the arm I8 of the member I5 the eye or loop 23 fits snugly within the depression 2|. It will further be observed that the width of each of the openings I3 in the tie plate A is such as snugly to accommodate the lower straight portion of the arm I8 of the member I5 and the shank 24 of the member I6 when said portion and shank are disposed in face to face abutting relationship.

Assuming that the tie plate A is fastened upon a tie and that a rail is seated upon the tie plate between the ribs II, II, it is apparent that application of each pair of the members I5 and I6 to the tie plate to retain the rail thereon may quickly and easily be effected first by disposing the members I5 with their arms I'I extending inwardly toward the rail; by then inserting the straight, lower end portions of the arms I8'of said members into the openings I3 'to bringthe arms I! downwardly upon the tops of the rail flanges, and by then entering the shanks 24 of the members I6 into the holes I3 outwardly of the arms I8 of the members I5 and driving said members I6 downwardly until the inner portions of their edges 23 snap into the arcuate recesses 2| of the members I5. Obviously, this results in the lower portions of the arms I8 of' the members I5 being held against outward movement,

and since the lips at the bottoms of the arms I8 of the members I5 underlie the inclined faces I4 of the tie plate the members I5 manifestly are held against upward movement. Equally obvious is the fact that the locking members are held against lateral movement and against upward movement due to the seating of the inner portions of their eyes in the arcuate recesses 2I of the members I5. 7

The stock comprising the members I5 and I6 is resilient and because of the shapes of said members they readily yield during driving of the members I6 to permit application of the latter.

Moreover, because of the shape of the members,

I5 as illustrated and described, the arms I! of said members are readily yieldable so as not to interfere with the natural wave motion imparted to the rail when trafiic passes thereover.

A modification of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 3 wherein is shown the feature of a beveled rib 25 being formed at the underside of the tie plate and having its downwardly and inwardly inclined face 26 disposed adjacent and below the inner wall of the opening I3 of the tie plate so as to be engaged by the downwardly and inwardly inclined locking tip 22 of the rail holding member I5. Otherwise the construction and function of the parts are the same as described der inwardly of the face defining the inner side of said opening, a rail seated on said tie plate, a holding member of fiat stock having an eye or loop at the top thereof, an outer arm extending downwardly from said loop and having its lower end portion disposed in said opening, an inner arm extending from said eye or loop into overlying relationship to the rail flange, the upper portion of said outer arm being bent first upwardly and inwardly and then upwardly and outwardly into mergence with the outer portion of said loop to provide an outwardly facing depression, the lower portion of said outer am being straight and having its outer face disposed outwardly of the outermost portion of said eye or loop, a locking member of fiat stock having a shank disposed in said opening outwardly of the outer arm of the holding member and holding said arm against outward movement, the lower end of the outer arm of the holding member being bent inwardly and underlying said shoulder, whereby the holding member is held against upward movement, and a. loop or eye at the top of the locking member'having the inner portion thereof disposed inwardly of the shank of said locking member and seated in the depression of the holding member and holding the locking member against upward movement.

JAMES G. DELFOX.

GERTIFIGATE OF CORRECTION. Patent No. 24 0,071 Septemberl}, 195

. ,mms G. DsLFox.

It is hereby certified that the state of inco rporation ef theassignee v in the above mnnbered patent was erroneously deseribed and specified. as

New York whereas said state should have been described and specified as Delaware, as shewn by the record of assignments in this office and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this coi'rection thereinthat the same may confer-into the record of the ease in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this lstday of November, A. D. 1958.

Henry Van Arsdale (Seal) Acting Conmissiener of Patents. 

